Author: Jane Hatton from Evenbreak
In 2022/23, an estimated 875,000 workers experienced work-related stress, depression or anxiety, leading to approximately 17.1 million lost working days. Each case of stress, depression, or anxiety results in an average of 21.1 days off work and mental health issues account for around 51% of long-term sick leave.
That’s depressing data, and a powerful argument for prevention rather than cure. Creating a workplace culture that supports employees' mental health is essential for well-being, enhancing productivity, and reducing absenteeism. Implementing best practices to prioritise mental health and prevent harmful stress is crucial. As well as reducing sickness absence (and all the ripple effects of that, including increased stress on remaining team members), demonstrating that you care about your people’s well-being makes people feel valued and supported, which in itself increases mental well-being.
Some groups of people – young people (particularly young men), people from the LGBQTIA+ community, people from an ethnically diverse background, disabled people and people from deprived areas all have a raised likelihood to experience mental ill health. At Evenbreak, we have a very diverse and intersectional team, and so mental health and well-being is vital.
So, what should organisations do to ensure the mental well-being of their most important (and expensive) asset – their people? Here are some ideas...
- Develop a Clear Mental Health Policy
- Establish Guidelines: Create a comprehensive mental health policy that outlines support mechanisms, resources, and procedures for addressing mental health concerns.
- Communicate Regularly: Ensure all employees are aware of the policy through regular communications and training sessions, and that they know who Mental Health First Aiders are, and how to contact them.
- Foster Open Communication
- Encourage Dialogue: Promote a culture where employees feel comfortable discussing mental health issues without fear of stigma or discrimination.
- Lead by Example: Managers and leaders should openly discuss mental health, leading by example and demonstrating that it's acceptable to talk about and seek support for mental health challenges. One of our senior leaders at Evenbreak was open about the therapy she was receiving for mental health around trauma, making it easier for others to be open about their challenges.
- Provide Mental Health Training
- Educate Managers: Provide training to help managers recognise signs of stress and mental health issues, and equip them with skills to support their teams effectively.
- Empower Employees: Provide resources and workshops to educate employees about managing stress, maintaining mental well-being and understanding the signs to look out for when they may benefit from additional support.
- Implement Flexible Work Arrangements
- Offer Flexibility: Allow flexible working hours, remote work options, or compressed workweeks to help employees balance work and personal life, reducing stress levels. As all of our team at Evenbreak are disabled, they work the hours, times and locations which suit them best.
- Promote Work-Life Balance: Encourage employees to take regular breaks, take all of their annual leave/disability leave entitlement, and use their time off to relax. It’s also important to ensure people take enough sick leave when they need to.
- Conduct Regular Stress Risk Assessments
- Identify Stressors: Regularly assess the workplace to identify potential stressors and take proactive measures to mitigate them.
- Involve Employees: Engage employees in discussions about stress factors and involve them in developing solutions. It’s normal for there to be some periods of heightened activity, in the run up to an important event or deadline, for example, but unhealthy for people to feel under pressure all the time.
- Provide Access to Mental Health Resources
- Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): Offer EAPs that provide confidential counselling, support services and maybe therapy for employees dealing with personal or work-related issues. Ensure you listen to feedback from your team about their effectiveness (we changed a provider as a result of negative feedback from our people).
- Mental Health Days: Allow employees to take mental health days without stigma, acknowledging the importance of mental well-being. This applies to requests for a reduced hours or workload on a temporary or permanent basis, too.
- Promote Healthy Activities
- Encourage Healthy Activities: This may include taking regular breaks, eating healthily, staying hydrated, appropriate exercise and self-care.
- Lead By Example: Ensure that leaders and managers model healthy behaviour by, for example, taking all leave entitlement, not working long hours or whilst on leave, not working whilst obviously ill, and manging their own workloads and stress levels.
- Create a Supportive Work Environment
- Foster Inclusivity: Build an inclusive culture where diversity is valued, and employees feel a sense of belonging. Feeling a pressure to ‘mask’ (e.g. not mentioning parenthood or caring responsibilities, hiding sexual orientation, ‘pretending’ to be neurotypical) is a fast route to mental health challenges
- Address Discrimination: Educate teams about inclusive behaviour, and supportively challenge inappropriate behaviour or comments.
- Encourage Regular Breaks
- Promote Rest: Encourage employees to take regular breaks to rest and rejuvenate, preventing burnout. People at Evenbreak work flexibly, and some may choose to work outside of ‘traditional’ working hours, but it is important that this doesn’t lead to working too many hours. Time worked over contracted hours should always be claimed back.
- Lead by Example: Leaders and managers should model taking breaks and prioritising self-care to set a positive example.
- Provide Professional Support and Access to Programmes
- Offer Counselling Services: Provide access (including financial support) to confidential professional counselling services to support employees dealing with mental health challenges.
- Promote Available Resources: Ensure employees are aware of the mental health resources available to them, such as counselling services, support programmes, training and Mental Health First Aiders.
- Ensure Confidentiality
- Maintain Privacy: Handle all mental health discussions and records with confidentiality to build trust and encourage employees to seek help. Leaders and managers, whilst not expected to offer counselling or therapy, should still make it easy for people to approach them with health concerns.
- Develop Clear Policies: Establish and communicate clear confidentiality policies to reassure employees that their privacy is protected, and ensure they are implemented.
- Regularly Review and Improve Policies
- Continuous Improvement: Regularly assess the effectiveness of mental health policies and programmes, seeking and responding to employee feedback to make necessary improvements.
- Stay Informed: Keep abreast of the latest research and best practices in workplace mental health to ensure your strategies are up-to-date.
By implementing these strategies, leaders can create a workplace culture that prioritises mental health, reduces predictable stress, and supports employees who may be struggling. This commitment not only enhances employee well-being but also contributes to a more productive and positive work environment.
